Sunday, May 18, 2014

Writing From the Edge of the Continent



Being the clever fellow I am, the continent in the title is both literal and metaphorical.  The Lady Fossil and I are returning from the Central Valley with Lafawnda to the Bay Area - and anyone acquainted with California knows that is the equivalent of turning on the air conditioner - and I have good things to report!  But, first the background since I haven't written anything since forever ago ...

All continents have many locales and my metaphorical one is no exception.  It is a continent of events and a rather large land it is.  It formed long ago, back when my daughter's neice drowned in the swimming pool and was revived thankfully with no residual damage whatsoever.  On top of that, it uncovered an unrelated developmental deficit that is now being addressed to her considerable benefit.

We moved to another countryside very quickly (the next week) when our newest granddaughter was born.  This is what she looks like now:




Baby D is healthy, cute and doing just fine, thankyouverymuch!  She is kind of vacation country for us you might say.


So, the country was nowhere near explored yet and within two weeks of Baby D's birth I was unexpectedly gven a job offer that I never expected to take.  The job is quite challenging and if you want to see the products I am working on as a programmer on the most challenging work I've ever done, check out this link:


http://www.finelite.com


Between formal business accounting automation and vector mathematics, I put in a full day!  Four days, actually, because I didn't fully close down my business and I take care of other business ventures in the meantime.  Among them is a new educational tool that I hope to unfold to you soon that shows great promise.


Busy, busy, busy.


So, in February, Lafawnda developed severe and debilitating pelvic pain that was diagnosed after several visits to the emergency room and the OB/GYN as Endometriosis.  But, hold that in your mind, for you have to realize this was so severe she had to stop her Dietetic Internship.  And walk away from a job position just offered to her.  And postpone her Master's Program.  But, life keeps happening - did I tell you I was now working slightly more than fulltime? - and our next door neighbor girl needed to get married.  And she had asked me to officiate.  You get the picture.


The wedding went very nicely indeed and they are a well-suited and beautiful couple who have been together as a couple for years:




Congratulations!


And, Lafawnda in the meantime has had a surgery.  An ineffective surgery.  She insisted upon attending the wedding of her "sister", but she was in severed pain.  And we were in a search for a doctor who wouldn't tell her that he saw nothing that should be causing this much pain and telling her that she could go back to school!  Pretty difficult when you can't walk, but, you know, doctors know more than the patient about what they are experiencing, right?


Well, we found the right doctor, a man practicing right in the Bay Area - not the last time we are happy to be living here - and he came to the situation with world-class expertise, but also a humility that was very refreshing.  He had patients coming to him from all over the world and has written an authoritative book on the subject.


Finally, the Master was able to do his work on April 22.  He found extensive endometrial tissue in her abdominal cavity and discovered that the scarring had even caused her colon to be adhered to her abdominal wall!  He found and removed tissue from the colon, the Fallopian tubes, the outside of the uterus, bladder, ureters and rectum.  It amazes us that the other doctor found none of this!


And that brings us to this trip at the edge of the continent.  She has now healed enough to be able to attend her fellow interns graduation and in another four weeks she will be back completely enough to work on the completion of her own program.


This is a dreadful disease experienced in greater and lesser degree by millions of women.  If it was a man's disease causing this much pain and debilitation, it would have become a subspecialty years ago and money would have been poured into its solution.  Doctors would be trained and certified rather than simply insisting they know what they are doing.  Unfortunately, though, my daughter was born a woman and they have a ways to go to achieve equal footing in this land.


But fortune has traveled with us and now we drive along the sunny edge of the continent looking forward to what the morrow will bring!




5 comments:

  1. Wow, such a blessing that she finally got a good doctor! Sounds like things are looking up for her!

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    1. Healed was all we asked, but it was brutal for all involved. I think she is healed, though!

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  2. FOS between my wife's passing and the events you've chronicled we've certainly had an interesting start to the year.

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  3. I am delighted that things are looking up once more. I have no doubt that Lafawnda will do well, now that the pain is under control. Take care.

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  4. 1. I am delighte to see you back blogging. 2. I am more delighted with the way everything has turned out. My love to the family who has not had it easy the past few months.

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